Transcript
Bill Maher (0:00)
Well, Frankie, it's a true honor to sit with you.
Frankie Valli (0:05)
As long as you understand that you're not doing it for you and you're doing it for an audience who may be out there waiting to hear you bought a ticket or waited six months until you appeared in your place. So that's what keeps us fresh. I've been doing this since I was about 16 or 17. Can you imagine what it's like to have an audience your whole life?
Bill Maher (0:31)
No, I can't.
Frankie Valli (0:32)
Doing what you love and them loving what you're doing. Anybody who could stay with you and be a fan for as long as some of these people have been deserves to get as close to you as they could possibly get when they can.
Bill Maher (0:49)
Yeah. So I've always loved Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons from the first time I heard them. I can't tell you that I remember the exact first time that I heard them, but it must have been somewhere around 10 or 11 years old. I can sort of picture the park in the town that I lived in and just going to summer concerts with my parents, and they'd have all these cover bands of the bands that they used to listen to when they were kids, you know, 50s 60s music. And I remember oh, what a Night and obviously Grease and, you know, all the major hits that everyone knows about. There's so many others now that I love that were lesser hits over the years. Some of them that we're listening to all the time here. But there was something about that guy's voice. I mean, everyone knows there's something about that guy's voice like nobody can do what Frankie Valli has done for basically six decades. And then, of course, over the years, not only did I love the music, but then Frankie himself sort of became a legend through the Jersey Boys musical, which then became a movie as well. And, you know, I'm from New York, I'm from Long island, had a lot of family in Jersey. The whole Jersey Boys story is so connected to everybody that lived in that New York Tri State area. There's sort of mafia parts of it and foods and accents and all of these things. And the story of a guy as they go into, in the. In the play and in the movie of a guy who was doing something for the love of music. Not just Frankie, but the Four Seasons as well, all of them. And then had the trials and tribulations, lost a daughter, dealing with, you know, one of the other guys, getting them into debt and just going and going and going. I've just. I've Always just had this affinity towards all of that. But, of course, at the end of the day, it comes down to the music. And over the last couple years, we've just introduced a million people to some of the stuff that people don't know from. From the Four Seasons and what Frankie's been doing. Cause he had solo albums as well. My favorite album is Heaven Above Me, which I think came out in 1980. So this is like at the end of disco. And he did this incredible song. The album is Soul, Heaven Above Me, the title song, Soul is just an absolute banger. There's another one on there. Let It Be. Whatever it is. That's amazing, too. Passion for Paris. These are not the songs that most people think of. Most people think of Sherry and they think of Walk Like a Man and the stuff from, really the 60s and 70s, and of course, oh, what a Night. And I love all those, too. And then there's. There's some other stuff that gets in there over the years. And he did more jazz stuff and ballads. But again, it was just about the voice and the joy that it has brought to my family and literally millions of people. And then it turned out that Frankie's drummer was a fan of mine. So I got to meet Frankie a couple of years ago when I lived in la. It also turned out we lived only a couple blocks from each other. And then finally, just recently, we actually got to sit down, and it is truly one of the great. For me, it's one of the greatest moments of my career. You know, I've interviewed presidents, I've interviewed prime ministers, I've interviewed comedians who I've loved and actors and all sorts of politicians and pundits and all of that stuff. But there are a few that really stand out as something that were just more important to me personally than just, like, the public side of all of this. And this absolutely was one. And the guy at 90 years old, I've seen probably a. I've been to probably 10 of his concerts. 90 years old still out there. And as we talked about, he does it just because it still makes people happy. And what could possibly be better than that? So I hope you guys enjoyed this interview with Frankie Valli as much as I did, sitting there across from. Truly one of the last living legends. All right, well, Frankie, it's a true honor to sit with you. My audience knows how much I love you and how much joy you've brought to my family and literally the entire world. So I was thinking it's. How do I do an interview With Frankie Valli right after the sound check and before the show and everything else. And I know you don't do too many of these, so I guess, first look, Sheri, 1962, it's 20, 25 now, 63 years later. I'm only 48. It's 63 years, man. Like, do you feel as much love for it now as you fell in? How has that changed over the years? The love of the music?